worth the effort

pictures, pictures

I don’t know if this is funny to anyone else, but sometimes the ads here just make me laugh. Meet abuela (grandma) flantastica, who is advertising little dessert cups (they aren’t really flan — more like pudding). She made me think of the “where’s the beef?” lady of my childhood.

We took the cub scouts to the fire station. Doesn’t this make it seem like we live in the U.S.? Our local fire station is better funded than a typical Chilean one — that truck was made in the U.S. and they have the good equipment, but apparently that’s uncommon here. One of the moms translated, but besides that, it was just like a field trip back home. Near the end, some guys started playing drums at the nearby intersection (people do that, and lots of other things, for money) and reminded me that I’m in Chile.Here’s something you wouldn’t see at school back home. This was at a special musical assembly attended by the entire school (preschool through high school). A couple of my kids sang, but this was the highlight — guest acrobats. You can see Sam down below, watching.Matt and I got to go to U2 with our friends Jake and Lindsey Mangum. Fun.Jon had a Nanny McPhee moment, and now of course has no front teeth. 8 1/2 seem a little late for that?Ben was Alexander the Great in his 5th grade “wax museum”. Please notice his cheat sheet on the back of his shield. Also notice that we made him a cute costume out of posterboard — when we arrived I realized that many of his classmates (they were all famous explorers) were wearing costumes that were theatrical quality. They must have rented, or spent lots of money buying them. I felt a little sheepish, but Ben didn’t seem to notice. Matt and Sam hiked to this pretty view with the young men from church.We had a fun Easter with our friends the Wrides, who are leaving Chile this week. They have seven kids, so between the two families we can have a pretty good party!

A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving. --Albert Einstein